Minnesota considered White Bears, Blue Ox, Northern Lights, Voyageurs and Freeze before settling on the Wild.

Had Columbus not settled on Blue Jackets, they would have picked the name Justice.

Nashville considered Ice Tigers, Fury and Attack. Wise choice to have taken Predators.

I love the nickname New Jersey Devils, which refers a mythical creature said to live in the woods and swamps of Jersey. It is far better than the other nickname finalists: Americans, Blades, Coastals, Colonials, Gulls, Jaguars, Meadowlanders and Meadowlarks.

Most people expected the New York Islanders to adopt the legendary minor league team's name, the Long Island Ducks. Instead they chose Islanders, which had been a runner up for the New York Mets expansion franchise in baseball 11 years earlier.

The Phoenix Coyotes were almost named the Scorpions.

A name-the-team contest saw the fans choose the San Jose Blades. Team ownership was worried about the nickname Blades due to gang violence and they vetoed the vote and chose Sharks. Other runner-ups include Screaming Squids, Salty Dogs, Fog, Icebreakers, Red Woods and Rubber Puckies. Yes. Rubber Puckies.

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